Suit: Prison Guards Laughed at Beating of Black Inmates

Staff members at an Ohio prison acted with callous indifference as a white supremacist attacked four black inmates handcuffed to a table, charges a lawsuit filed in federal court, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer. Two correctional officers, identified only by surnames Faye and Dalton, laughed as the four black inmates were brutally stabbed in June 2017, the suit says. The incident was captured on surveillance footage and viewed by millions. The suit seeks $75,000 in damages on behalf of two of the victims, Shamieke Pugh and Maurice Lee. It claims the victims’ civil rights were violated,

The lawsuit says that Pugh, Lee and two other black inmates were strip searched before they were allowed out of their cells for recreational time. They were then handcuffed to a table. Greg Reinke, who pleaded guilty in the attack, was not strip searched before he was cuffed to an adjacent table. Reinke is identified in the suit as a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent white supremacist group. Guards allegedly “gave Reinke a key” or “knew or should have known that Reinke” had a key or device to unlock his handcuffs. Reinke used an 8-inch blade in the attack and had a 12-inch blade in his sock. Two inmates suffered several stab wounds and heavy bleeding. The Lucasville prison’s warden, Ronald Erdos, is a defendant in the suit, which says he and the facility’s staff knew Reinke was a violent threat, “yet did nothing to prevent this violence.” Reinke was sentenced to 54 years in the bloody attack, video of which was obtained by the Associated Press and went viral last year.

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